I AM the Football Star

Chapter 22: Chapter 9: Eevee Moment Card, Fatal Weakness

Even though they are underage players and not fully developed in terms of physique, San Remo’s current situation doesn’t allow them to set aside their talents.

With San Remo’s backline, they might as well admit defeat if Lu Yang and Sotu are not on.

Also, in San Remo’s midfield, Morici is the only player with real midfield command ability. Without his organization and control, San Remo can’t even play the simplest long pass; it’s all about big clearances.

On the field.

Arnold, as the team’s right winger, was directly opposite Lu Yang’s position.

Standing next to Lu Yang, he said, ”You’re the Lu Yang? I heard you’re going to freeze me?”

Lu Yang shook his head.

Arnold laughed, ”It’s too late to wimp out now, I’ll teach you a good lesson.”

Lu Yang replied, ”I shook my head because it’s not ’heard,’ I’m indeed going to freeze you!”

Arnold’s face darkened.

Damn!

Bisceglie’s number 7 is Arnold, but their real core is actually the number 10 player, who can deliver deadly through passes in midfield.

Similarly, their number 9 central forward is a pivot center forward, mainly responsible for receiving and creating chances for Arnold.

This shows Arnold’s true level.

With the team’s core and frontline pivot creating chances for him, and being in a league-leading team with plenty of offensive opportunities, he’s scored only fourteen goals in twenty games.

Take a look at Vedian’s previous living environment, and you’ll find that Vedian, in fact, is quite strong.

Bam!

The opposing number 10 soon initiated a precise through ball, and Arnold was already moving forward.

But Lu Yang extended his foot, disrupted the pass, successfully intercepting it.

On the sidelines, Sotu raised his arms and calmed down.

He knew the kid could do it.

Lu Yang’s defensive positioning and interception are indeed excellent by Italian D Division standards.

Without Lu Yang, San Remo might have already conceded a goal just now.

Minutes later, a more dangerous situation arose.

The opposing number 9 successfully received and held the ball; he’s quite strong, and San Remo’s midfield and another center-back couldn’t handle him.

He shielded the ball for a while, waited for the right opportunity, and then sent a lob pass over the top, kicking the ball to the right side of San Remo’s half before being double-teamed.

There was a huge gap there.

Arnold sprinted quickly, successfully received the ball, and charged straight towards San Remo’s goal.

San Remo’s right-back was chasing Arnold, but the distance between them kept growing.

”Here it comes, Arnold’s fast break is coming!”

”Wow! San Remo’s right-back simply can’t catch up with Arnold, and now it’s just a sixteen-year-old youth player between Arnold and the goalkeeper. He can’t possibly stop Arnold!”

”A goal is imminent.”

”Oh, we can see that this center-back named Lu Yang is quickly retreating, trying to block Arnold’s path forward. This is a duel between a defender and a forward.”

”Lu Yang’s idea is good, but he’s too young. People are very prone to tripping themselves up during fast retreating.”

”Arnold is cycling, and his speed hasn’t decreased much. Such feints are enough to make any center-back lose their judgment ability, even be shaken off.”

Suddenly, as Arnold’s feet flew over the ball in his cycling motion, the retreating Lu Yang suddenly stepped forward and poked the ball away.

The ball was kicked out, and then Arnold collided with Lu Yang.

Arnold fell to the ground, making a pained expression.

But the referee shook his head, indicating it wasn’t a foul.

Lu Yang quickly passed the ball to Morici, then said to Arnold on the ground, ”Your dribbling rhythm isn’t good. Such poor little tricks won’t get past any professional footballer.”

Arnold felt humiliated and immediately sprang up from the ground, charging at Lu Yang.

Lu Yang showed no fear whatsoever, puffing out his chest and standing up to Arnold.

Arnold staggered back a bit.

After all, Lu Yang is a center-back, and Arnold isn’t particularly strong even among forwards; there’s still a physical difference between the two.

The referee immediately came over to stop both of them, warning Arnold not to cause trouble.

Arnold looked displeased.

On the sidelines, Sotu was very satisfied with this scene, gesticulating to Tom, saying, ”Did you see that, Tom, that’s the defense I want! You must be able to stop the opposition, but you also have to be strong enough!”

”Think about San Remo’s matches, how long has it been since our players had a face-to-face conflict with others? Weak players might steal honor, but weak teams gain no honor at all!”

Tom looked exasperated, thinking, is it fair to say you were just mocking Maniero?

”Hmm, Lu’s Defensive Retreat Step is excellent, it’s the crucial basic skill for defending speed-type players.” Tom reluctantly agreed.

But internally, he also agreed with Sotu’s point about being ”strong.”

You can play soccer without being dirty, but you can’t play without being strong!

In the next half-hour, Lu Yang fully displayed his dominance on the backline.

Whether it was ground through passes, overhead passes, or long cross-field passes, Arnold was left fruitless. Most of the time, Arnold didn’t even touch the ball before Lu Yang intercepted it.

Bisceglie’s conventional tactics failed; their blade was blunted.

The first half ended in a zero-to-zero tie.

But Sotu was not optimistic because he thought the opponent was very likely to make targeted adjustments in the second half, changing their approach. For example, letting their number 9 center forward come out, no longer being a pivot but trying to be a finisher.

After all, the number 9 facing the center-back was much easier to deal with than Lu Yang.

And Sotu... it’s not that he doesn’t want to adjust, he simply can’t.

Should he let Lu Yang mark the number 9 center forward?

Then wouldn’t Arnold be freed?

They have two, maybe three blades, but Sotu only has one shield; he inevitably loses sight of one while attending to another.

”Attack, we must find a way to attack!” This was the only message Sotu could convey to the team.

...

The second half began.

Three minutes later, Bisceglie’s home crowd erupted in cheers.

”GOAL!”

Their number 9 center forward, bearing down on San Remo’s right center-back, broke into the penalty area and scored.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang had to stay near the edge of the penalty area to shut down Arnold and prevent the number 9 from passing.

”See, this is the price you pay for always following me. We are invincible! We are league leaders!” Arnold tried to unsettle Lu Yang with his words.

But he underestimated Lu Yang’s psychological strength.

”But you haven’t gained any stats!” Lu Yang retorted.

Arnold was taken aback, almost furious.

In the fifty-ninth minute of the whole match.

Bisceglie repeated their trick, Arnold drawing Lu Yang away, while the number 9 center forward faced off one-on-one with San Remo’s right center-back.

But this time, Morici stepped forward. He was already in a defensive midfield position and had moved back in advance, allowing him to double-team the opposing number 9 center forward.

However, the number 9 center forward’s pivot role once again became apparent. He leaned back against the center-back, extended an arm to hold off Morici, and then passed the ball back to the edge of the penalty arc.

There, Bisceglie’s number 10 core player arrived and unleashed a powerful shot.

The ball pierced through the net; the goalkeeper was helpless, unable to save it.

”GOAL! The match is over; San Remo simply can’t stop Bisceglie’s attack!”

”Bisceglie always has one more key player than San Remo. This is the difference in overall team strength.”

”Lu Yang indeed froze Arnold, but then again, isn’t he also being constrained by Arnold?”

”I have a feeling there will be more goals this match, and San Remo might not just lose by two goals!”

”This is definitely going to be a resounding victory!”

”The remaining thirty minutes will be a torment for San Remo.”

The commentators offered their opinions, mostly quite professional.

Even Hans frowned.

Lu Yang did what he said he would, but unfortunately, San Remo and Bisceglie aren’t teams of the same caliber.

This is a gap individual ability can’t bridge.

What a pity.

”Hey, did San Remo’s center-back even play this match? Why is our team scoring so easily?” Arnold taunted in Lu Yang’s ear again.

Lu Yang stayed calm; if the Eevee Moment Card didn’t have a time limit, he was planning to save it for the later stages of the match — he could have shown Arnold the divine splendor now.

However, even without using the Moment Card, Lu Yang already had a breakthrough idea.

This Bisceglie team isn’t as strong as they seem.

They have at least two fatal weaknesses!